Collins sees Clemson offense with no quit in it, ready to battle

Clemson's offense has started to hit its stride and looks to build on that against Wake Forest this weekend.

by Eric Jackson - Correspondent - Fri Oct 06 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

After their first ACC win of the season, the Clemson Tigers see progress and plenty of room for optimism.

With a new offensive scheme, the Tigers must be patient and continue to get reps. The wide receiver group continues to show their improvement game to game. Junior wide receiver Beaux Collins is considered a leader of the group, and he feels that these past couple of weeks have benefited the offense.

“I think it’s benefited us well. We’ve just gotten closer as a group,” Collins said. “Now that we’ve had a couple of wins under our belt, we know what each other is like. It’s just a lot easier and smoother.”

This Clemson team faced some early season adversity with two ACC losses in the first month of the season. It's not the typical start to a season that this program is used to, but it has brought them together.

“We don’t have anybody on this team that will quit. And that goes a long way when you are going to battle every week with a group of guys. They got your back and you got theirs,” Collins said.

Freshman Tyler Brown continues to be the talk of the wide receiver group this season. His ability to make big catches and create plays gives the Tigers a level of explosiveness that they need.

“He’s a real quick, speedy dude, and that is something we really didn’t have the past couple of years. A guy that has blazing speed down the field,” Collins said. “He is able to make plays that freshmen don’t normally make.”

Along with Brown, wide receiver Troy Stellato has shown what he can do for the offense. The injury bug bit Stellato in his first couple of years as a Tiger, but this year he has had the chance to showoff the talent everyone knew he had.

“Coming in (to our freshman year), I knew that Troy would be a big-time player for us, but unfortunately, he had injuries. Seeing him come out and reveal himself to the world is what I have been waiting on. I knew what type of player he was,” Collins said.

Another promising sign has been the progression of starting quarterback Cade Klubnik. The start to his first season as QB did not go as planned, but every week, Klubnik continues to show that he can lead this team to plenty of wins.

“He seems like he’s not rattled by anything anymore,” Collins said. “He’s grown a lot in the pocket, stepping up to make throws. It’s just awesome to be able to have a quarterback be able to keep us on script.”

While Klubnik’s game on the field has certainly progressed, his leadership of the offense has blossomed. It is clear to everyone that he is the leader of the offense, and he is comfortable in that role.

“He’s definitely taken the next step and just led us from within,” Collins said. “Even in our practice after we lost to Florida State, he gathered all the receivers, tight ends, and running backs and said we are starting over. No sad faces. He’s just taking command and I love it.”

There is plenty of season left, and it will be intriguing to see what this offense can do as they continue to grow and get more comfortable with this new scheme. There are still a few more tough tests as they face Notre Dame, North Carolina, NC State, and South Carolina.

But right now, the Tigers look to take that next step on Saturday and win their second straight ACC matchup against Wake Forest in Death Valley (3:30 p.m./ACCN).